Daydreamer
by Artemis Obscure
Summary: LettieBen oneshot. When Lettie finds herself daydreaming too much about the Wizard Ben Suliman, she's determined to strong minded about her feelings. But is she able to do so when she spends the afternoon with Ben....


Disclaimer: Standard fanfiction writer's disclaimer applies.

A/n: This was something totally random. I had written half of this a year ago at the back of my physics notebook and completely forgotten all about it. Then there was that awful spring cleaning my mum put me though a week ago and I found this. And of course, I continued it. But being the lazy soul that I am I put in a lot of conversation between Lettie and Ben. (Bad me!)

Don't be too hard on me okay? After all, this is my first Lettie/Ben fic. (Wait, I think it's the only Lettie/Ben fic so far!) After this, I'm going to be responsible and update my other two HMC fics. Hopefully it'll be up in a while.

So, just enjoy the story!

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**Daydreamer**

**by Artemis Obscure**

You're staring off into space again," a deep baritone voice remarked. The voice brought Lettie from the clouds and crashing back down to earth. "Care to tell me what's the matter?"

She found herself staring into the craggy face of Ben– _Wizard_ Suliman, rather. Lettie was annoyed with the fact her mind refused to acknowledge her tutor with his title. She was even more annoyed with the way her thoughts would trail off from her magic lessons and wander away somewhere else.

These things have been happening for the past few months, or ever since she was taken is as a pupil under Wizard Suliman, one of Ingary's royal wizards and moved into one of the smaller rooms in his Royal Abode.

"_This is Camelot," Ben–_Wizard_ Suliman had told her as he swept his hand and gestured at the grand house before him. To Lettie's mind, it looked like a castle, with it's long thin turrets, high windows and towers, so she told him so. _[1]__

_"I got the idea from a book," he admitted. "I always liked the idea of owning my own castle, with me as the king and my company of knights." he turned and smiled at her sheepishly. "So here I am, King over Camelot and with my hoard of servants and apprentices as my Knights. But what Camelot really needs is a woman's touch." Lettie had stared hard at him and wondered what he really meant by that mixed message. _

She sighed inwardly. Lettie wished that Ben wouldn't say things like that, since they were only fueling her imagination and daydreams. Her daydreams had started right after she had moved into Camelot. It was annoying at times, one moment, she would be concentrating on a complicated spell, and the next, she would be staring at Ben–_Wizard_ Suliman, (she corrected herself sternly!) And wondering if he had gotten some enchantment spells from her brother-in-law (Howl had married Sophie last spring) and put them on himself in order to make his eyes look bluer.

It was all very confusing. Very irritating and confusing at the same time.

"Nothing's the matter," she told him. "It's just that the weather's getting to me. I don't take well to hot spells."

"Hmm," he said, raising his eyebrows. Lettie knew he was unconvinced. After all, she had been blaming her fits of daydreaming on the weather one too many times. With a resigned sigh, she turned back to the wind spell on the table.

"Tell you what, why don't you give this spell a rest now, and take the rest of the day off," he suggested. Lettie looked up, her huge blue eyes widening in surprise. Ben never gave her the day off. He didn't believe in holidays and such. Ben Suliman was the energetic type. He felt unhappy if he was told just to sit still. He had to move about and keep himself busy before he was satisfied.

"Are you sure?" Lettie asked. "I could finish this spell by evening."

Ben grinned. "Yes I'm sure. Take the rest of the day off, go down town or catch the next carrier and visit your family. Whatever it is go and enjoy yourself throughly. In my opinion, you've been working a bit too hard for the past few weeks." Ben gave her a craggy grin and waved his hand. The remnants of the wind spell glowed a dull brown and melted into the work table. "Come back when you think you're ready to concentrate once more." with another craggy grin, he left the workshop with a flurry of dark robes.

There wasn't much going point in going back to Market Chipping to visit Fanny, as she was probably too tied up with Mr. Smith or shopping. Martha would be probably be doing something with Michael at this time if she wasn't busy at Cesaris. She didn't feel like intruding on Sophie and Howl as the two of them had just gotten married, and would bound to want to be alone. Lettie found herself snorting in a very Sophie way. Here she was with a holiday and with nowhere to go. After some time of silent debate, she decided to explore the grounds of Camelot, since she hadn't been able to so before.

The Wizard Suliman had gone out to Kingsbury, the butler told Lettie on an errand of the King and was not likely to return until late. That was somewhat of a relief, as she wanted to sort out her feelings towards her tutor without having him pop up in front of her. She set of for an afternoon of exploring the grounds.

There was no denying that Camelot was a grand place. If it were to be compared to the King's palace, Camelot was grander than the King's Palace in some ways. The gardens, for one were spectacular. Lettie, like any other girl adored gardens, though she knew little about keeping them in shape. She walked down the gravel paths, admiring the pink rosebushes and hawthorn shrubs. The poppies swayed in the afternoon breeze and the sunflowers nodded their big heads. Walking in the garden helped to calm her down. She chose a shady spot beneath an apple tree and sat under it.

She fell to thinking why did she find herself drawn to the Wizard. He was very old. Much older than she was, for about maybe a good ten years or more. But his age made him more...mature. Sort of like an old wine, she mused. The older it got, the better it was. Trivial things like the latest fashion and big society parties didn't really matter a lot to him like how they did with most younger men.

Ben also had a clear view on what he wanted to do. Lettie knew he came from a strange land, one which was rather similar to theirs and yet, very different. He had arrived at Ingary as a nobody, and after years of hard work, had become the Royal Wizard. Lettie also admired his determination very much. Ben had this 'never-say-die' attitude, and believed nothing was impossible, as long as one worked for it.

She especially liked the way he burst into the spell room early in the morning, overflowing with enthusiasm for a new spell. The fact that he was good looking in this craggy, chiseled way was an added bonus, she thought dreamily. Ben had this way of pushing his red hair off his forehead that made him look simply adorable...

Lettie's head shot up ignidiantly. She had come here, she told herself firmly, to analyze her feelings, not think about Ben's endearing habits. Taking a deep breath, she counted to ten and told herself firmly that she would think no more of Ben than her tutor and be done with it. That was the most sensible thing to do. But...

"Oh confound these feelings," she said exasperation. "I refuse to think of him anymore! Besides, I'm going to be a career woman! I'm going to be the best witch Ingary has ever seen! I don't have time for foolish things like this!"

Someone cleared his throat. Lettie spun around only to find herself staring at the face of a very amused looking Ben Suliman who was sitting beside her. She started, jumped to her feet, and pointed accusingly at her tutor.

"You! Don't ever sneak up on people like that!" she stammered. "Besides, weren't you supposed to be at the palace?"

"Is that what Anton told you?" he asked. "I was actually sitting over behind the hollyhocks when I heard you declare your life's calling. So, what is it now? Are you in some kind of trouble over a gentleman?"

The way he had hit the nail on its head was dismaying. Lettie stared unhappily at Ben. How on earth did he know? Ben laughed when he saw the look on her face. "I was your age once," he said. "You displayed all symptoms of having being in love."

"I don't want to talk about it," Lettie said primly. Inside, she was a whirled mess. She kept thinking over and over again; _goodness, if he knew! I'll be chucked out of Camelot faster than I can say 'magic'!_

Ben shrugged. "Just wanted to let you know that you can tell me anything. You don't have to say anything about it if you want to. What are you doing here anyway? I thought you left for home?"

Lettie sat back down next to him. "I didn't want to go back home," she said, as she twiddled the hem of her dress. "Fanny's probably with Mr. Smith and I don't want to intrude on Sophie and Howl. As for Martha, well... she'll probably be with Michael this time."

"Didn't want to play gooseberry eh? Your sisters and step mother seem paired off quite well," he observed. "Is that's what bothering you?"

"No, it isn't anything like that! I don't care about such things," she said. All this while, she was staring very hard at the grass, hoping that he wouldn't pursue the subject.

Ben shot her a sideways look and decided to change the subject. "Mrs. Fairfax mentioned that you and Martha switched places in order for you to learn magic."

Lettie nodded. "Yes, and Martha wanted to get married and have children. She was unhappy at Mrs. Fairfax's and I didn't want to be a baker's apprentice. It seemed like the most logical thing to do."

"How long did it take for her to spot the trick you pulled on her?"

She thought for a bit. "Two days. I think she suspected something already, when I mistook the bathroom for the spell room." She then proceeded to tell Ben how Mrs. Fairfax had cornered her and she had slipped out that she wasn't Martha.

"She made me sit down and talked for a whole afternoon on why I should have just let her know I wanted to learn magic instead," she said. "Luckily Mrs. Fairfax was very open-minded about the whole issue. After all, I was very keen upon learning witchcraft."

"So leaning witchcraft has been your dream," he said thoughtfully.

To that Lettie nodded firmly. "I wasn't going to sit around and let fate play the hand she'd dealt me. I wanted to be a witch and being the middle daughter isn't going to stop me from that. Besides, Martha had no interest in witchcraft. It wouldn't be fair to make her learn something she didn't have her heart in."

"I like your attitude," Ben said. "Never giving up on your dreams no matter what happens."

Lettie turned crimson. She's been doing that quite often she noted. However, she couldn't help feeling agreeably glad at Ben's words. "So how about you? How did you find yourself in Ingary, and now as the Royal Wizard?"

Ben frowned. "Getting into Ingary was a feat in itself," he admitted. "One minute I was walking clockwise around the gorse bush with a bunch of Hemlock in my hand, and the next thing I know, I was in Kingsbury.

"Of course it was a whole lot of trouble learning the customs. Would you believe it if I told you I started out here as a street entertainer. I used to stand by the corner of the streets and pull scarves and rabbits out of hats in order to earn a living. Everyday, a policeman would be sure to come by and tell me off and threaten to charge me for vagrancy. They stopped when I showed them how to make a silver shilling disappear. Then one day, Mrs. Pentstemmon (poor thing, I hope the Witch of the Waste didn't hurt her too much) came by I pulled an egg out of her mitten. Maybe she was impressed, and decided to take me on as a pupil. I've been living in Ingary for over ten years now."

"How about your family?" Lettie asked. "Aren't they worried when you went off like that?"

Ben shrugged. "My parents died after I was born. I lived with an aunt and uncle and they..." he paused. There was an uncomfortable look on his face. "Anyway, I don't think they miss me much."

Lettie felt bad. "I'm sorry for asking," she apologized.

Ben waved it off. "It's all in the past now. But there was someone who might miss me." He broke off and glanced at Lettie at the corner of his eye. "I was rather fond of Lily Angorian at one point of time."

"Oh," Lettie said. That changed everything. But she made up her mind to be indifferent and conversational. "But wasn't Miss Angorian the Witch's fire demon?"

"The Witch spent a good deal of time looking into my head," Ben replied. "But I'm sure that the Miss Angorian you saw was an illusion. The Witch just used her as a smokescreen to distract Howl from Sophie. And you must admit, that was a good distraction."

"I suppose it was," she said reluctantly. "Miss Angorian was very pretty. She looks like the type of woman most men would find themselves drawn to. So where's the real Lily Angorian?"

"No idea. Probably somewhere in Wales. Maybe she moved to the city. I haven't heard from her in years."

Yes," Lettie agreed. She hesitated for a moment and then plunged in with the question that had wormed its way into her head. "Was Miss Angorian your sweetheart? Or fiancee for that matter?"

Ben grinned. "Why the sudden curiosity?"

"I was just curious," Lettie said hurriedly. "Do you think that the weather is going to change? I like sunshine, but it's just hot. Not even a cloud in the sky. The King should have asked you to do something. Maybe he could have asked for some rain."

There was an amused smile playing on Ben's lips. "I tend to notice that you talk about the weather whenever you're trying to distract me. Is that something I should expect quite often from you?"

"No!" she blurted. "Its just that... I don't know what it is. I can't help talking about the weather. It is just...something I do," she said lamely. "And I'm not trying to distract you," she added. "Anyway, you can't deny that it is hot."

"I'm not," he agreed. "But to satisfy your curiosity, I admit, I was engaged to Lily, but things didn't work out." He sighed. "She was so incredibly strong willed. Not that being strong willed was a bad thing though. It was just her undoing."

"What happened?" Lettie asked.

"After we got engaged," Ben continued. "She began to get more domineering. I wanted a simple plain wedding, and she wanted a lavish ceremony. Everything we did, she wanted it to be done her way. I hardly had a say in anything."

"I knew things wouldn't work out when I told her I was going to do my thesis statement on magic, with wizardry in particular. She threw a hissing fit and insisted that I got a solid education on something reliable like economics or business. Said that I would make more money that way."

Lettie could imagine Miss Angorian throwing, as Ben put it, a 'hissing fit'. It was after all, completely in character, with her being a fire demon and all.

"Basically she didn't want me to do something I liked, she wanted me to do something _secure_." He snorted. "As if I could tie myself down to a desk job all day. She was holding me back, so I had to let her go."

"Did she take it badly?" Lettie asked. She had an image of Lily Angorian stamping and screaming insults at Ben, and perhaps, even trying to claw his eyes out.

"Not really. She said that she wouldn't want to be with anyone who would jeopardize her future. So good riddance I thought. She didn't really matter much in the end." He smiled and shrugged. "And so that was that."

Lettie didn't think so. "But if she didn't matter to you, why would the Witch conjure her fire demon in the form of Miss Angorian? She must have meant something or else the Witch wouldn't have taken her out of your memory."

"Lily doesn't matter anymore," he said firmly. "I of all people should know my own mind best."

"Well, for all the good it does you," Lettie answered. "It must be difficult letting the Witch pry into your brain like that. Manipulating your memories like no one's business. I think I should go mad if she did that to me."

"She couldn't," Ben said absently. "You have one of the strongest minds that I've ever encountered so far. The Witch wouldn't even last two minutes in there."

She exhaled. "I wish that was true," she admitted.

"What?" Ben asked. "What's true?"

"What you said. I wish I was really strong minded. It would save me a lot of trouble. It's better for a witch to know her own mind best." If she was strong minded, she wouldn't be having those confounded daydreams about him. She wouldn't be in two minds about her career and Ben. Being strong minded meant she wouldn't ask about his ex-fiancee or get upset when he spoke about her. Lettie exhaled gustily. "Why did you take me as your pupil anyway?" she asked.

Ben had a look of uncertainty on his face for just a moment. Just for that moment, Lettie thought Ben had no idea why he took her as a pupil. Her thoughts soon dispelled as soon as the uncertainty disappeared from his face. "For one thing, I realized you had talent. It was apparent from the progress you made at Mrs. Fairfax's. it seemed a waste not to expand on that" He stopped. "Another reason was because you had a systematic mind and were eager to learn everything. Those two are one of the most important things to learning magic."

"But I don't have a systematic mind!" Lettie protested. "Most of the time, my thoughts are all jumbled!" _That was, whenever you're around,_ her mind added.

"Well, you've learnt to think systematically during your spells," Ben countered. "It all boils down to enthusiasm I suppose. I know many people who have a great amplitudes for magic, but when it came to learning they didn't even make any effort." he rolled his eyes. "I'd say you are one of my best students so far."

"Thank you," she said, feeling extremely flattered.

"But of course, if you were to go off now and get a beaux I can't say for the future," he added slyly. "Most young witches are liable to loose their heads once they see a nice looking man saunter past."

"Good heavens," Lettie proclaimed. "I'm not that sort and you jolly well know it." She secretly thought what she said was contradictory, since she appeared to be losing her head over her tutor. "Besides," she added for emphasis. "I'm all for personality, not looks."

"I know you are," Ben said as he displayed another craggy grin. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you do have someone in mind, don't you? I believe I'm right," he said, as at this point, Lettie had turned a bright scarlet. "What's more, I'm willing to bet that he's the cause of your daydreaming."

Lettie jumped to her feet. "Ugh! Of all people, I don't need you to pry!" she almost shouted. "You're supposed to teach me magic! Not make me fall even more in love with you!"

It wasn't until a moment later when it suddenly struck Lettie what she had just slipped out, and she clapped her hand to her mouth. Ben was looking at her with some kind of stunned calmness. She knew him well enough by then, the calmer Ben was on the outside, the more confused he was on the inside. Ben was probably thinking how to turn her down as politely as possible, stating that their relationship was merely the type where a teacher cared about his student. He might even suggest that she find another tutor because things would be too awkward between them.

Something inside Lettie felt deeply cold. She knew that she could never go back to having the comfortable type of relationship they had previously shared. Because she had thoughtlessly uttered words, she knew that they could never go back to sharing that easy tutor/student relationship they once had. _What have I just done?_ She shouted inwardly.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I take that back. Please just forget what I said." She turned back and was about to head back to the castle when Ben spoke.

"Did you mean what you said?"

Lettie bit her lip. "I'm afraid I did. And I'm sorry"

"You don't have to be. It was partly my fault for teasing you."

"It isn't. I--" she had to stop to gulp down a sudden lump in her throat. "I'll understand if you want me to leave. I'll go pack now."

"You're not going anywhere," Ben said firmly. "Not until you listen to me."

The resoluteness in Ben's voice made Lettie stand in her tracks, a small trickle of hope welling up within her. She turned around and faced him expectantly.

It was now Ben's turn to blush. "Well, to actually say something," he said began, and he snapped his mouth shut, only to reopen it and say; "But what I meant was–Look, what I'm trying to say is..." he stopped completely and gestured emptily with his hands. "Lettie, I'm trying to tell you something, but...I'm such a ham [2]. I can't even say a proper sentence without stumbling over half of my words." Ben pushed his hair off his forehead in an abashed way.

"You don't have to," Lettie began hurriedly, but Ben waved his hand.

"Yes I do. I've been trying to gather up enough nerve to tell you as well." he took a deep breath. "I'll try this on another beat," he mumbled. "I'm glad you feel the same way. I-think-I-was-in-love-with-you-even-when-I-was-a-dog." That was said very quickly, then he relaxed. "Although you were a horribly tough nut to crack. Lord knows how many times I tried hinting to you, but you just didn't seem to notice."

"Was that crack about Camelot needing a woman's touch one of them?" Lettie asked. She wasn't blushing anymore, but her heart seemed to be thumping sideways.

"One of the many," Ben admitted. "But you never caught on. To make it worse, most of the time you seemed to be daydreaming over something else," he paused and gave her a small smile. "I thought you were thinking about some other bloke."

"You were jealous." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. She sat down besides Ben again. "All this time and I never knew a thing."

"You have no idea. There were so many times when I had just almost given up hope. Like today, I was just sure that you were in love with someone else, and with you daydreaming like that in class. I couldn't work with you filling up my head like that. I just had to take some time off to sort out my feelings out."

"That was how I felt this morning as well," Lettie admitted. "But," she said rather reproachfully. "You should have told me earlier!"

Ben gave her another craggy grin. This time, it was more of a cheekier variety of his usual smile. "Then looks like I've got to make up for it hadn't I?"

And without saying anything more, he leaned forward and kissed her. A ripple of sensation seemed to whizz through her spine. Ben's lips were slightly chapped, but still soft. When Ben leaned away, she was feeling slightly lightheaded and wondering at the same time if what had just happened was magic.

"Well then, that seems to have settled it," Ben said, rather smugly. He got up and extended his hand to Lettie. "We should go now in order to get to Kingsbury before its too late."

"Um," Lettie said. Her head was still spinning slightly. "Kingsbury?"

"I did say I was giving you the day off didn't I? And you're a fine young lady, with a holiday and without an escort. But I think that shouldn't be a problem."

Lettie smiled and took Ben's extended hand to pull her to her feet. He then firmly took her hand in his as they walked to the carriage.

Perhaps daydreams did come true.

End

References:

[1] - "_This is Camelot," Ben–_Wizard_ Suliman had told her as he swept his hand and gestured at the grand house before him. To Lettie's mind, it looked like a castle, with it's long thin turrets, high windows and towers, so she told him so. _

This comes from my other fic Sandcastle. I always thought that Ben's home was called Camelot.

[2] - " Lettie, I'm trying to tell you something, but...I'm such a ham."

That's from the old movie (my favorite one I must just add!) "Singing in the Rain" where Don Lockwood says to Kathy Selden: "Kathy, I'm trying to say something to you–but I'm such a ham. I guess I can't say it without the proper settings.

And of course, please review and tell me what you think. Too fluffy? Not fluffy enough? Too much conversation? Let me know.


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